Leadership Traits and Characteristics

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Leadership has been a main concern over a long period of time in virtually all parts of the world. People have continuously believed that great leaders are born and don’t need training on how to lead while other schools of thought are convinced that any person can learn how to grow into a leader (George & Sims, 2007).

According to George (2007), an individual can decide to learn to become a leader by nurturing applicable traits and characteristics of leadership.

The desire to effectively lead an organization, whether it is big or small, into reaching its mission and vision has showed to be one of the highest challenges faced by leaders (Rose, 2007).

A successful leader should be talented to bring the best assets to the organization. Great leaders of companies who demonstrate authenticity have been known to continue with the good imaginings of their predecessors with the desire to leave longstanding legacies (George & Sims, 2007).

A confident leader inspires those who are being led into action and remain committed to the course set by the leader (Whitehead, 2005).

Listening is one of the earliest skills of communication to be learnt yet very few are able to master it (Rose, 2007). There is a close relationship between effective listening and efficient leadership. (Whitehead, 2005).

In order to successfully achieve the objectives and missions of any organization, leaders must use high degree patience so as to harmonize the often varied views, feelings, opinions and other preferences of the employees (George, McLean & Craig, 2008).A leader who has perspective is capable of making wise decisions as far as taking actions is concerned (Taylor & McDonald, 2009).

A good leader learns from the faults and challenges that he or she experiences. Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln were able to face challenges and they finally overcame their demons (Rose, 2007). They saw failures as learning opportunities rather than concerning them as the most unfortunate events to have ever happened in their lives.

Conclusion

This article has discussed in detail the traits and characteristics of leadership in an organization. The conversation about leadership has brought out three major traits and characteristics of leadership. Authenticity, listening skills and patience have been elaborated from the view of the guests and other authors.

 

References

 

George, B. & Sims, E. P. (2007). True North: discover your authentic leadership. Wiley, John & Sons

George, B. & McLean, A. & Craig, N. (2008). Finding your True North: a personal guide. Harvard Business Review. [Peer Reviewed].Wiley, John & Sons

Rose, C. (Executive Producer). (2007, August 27). Charlie Rose. [Television broadcast].

Taylor, F. & McDonald, J. A. (2009). Understanding leadership: theory and practice. International Journal of Leadership [Peer Reviewed]. Routledge

Whitehead, J. C. (2005). A life in leadership: from D-Day to Ground Zero. Basic Books